REMEMBERS

RAY MANZAREK

1939 – 2013

“The Doors were successful. It was Jim Morrison as the center and the figure and the spokesman, the figurehead, but we were all into the same thing. That’s why we were a band.” – Ray Manzarek

While Jim Morrison was the enigmatic lizard king, Ray Manzarek was the architect that built the classic rock n’ roll band The Doors.

When I was sixteen years old my mother brought me to the optometrists to get a new pair up glasses.  Up until that point she would force me to choose these large pairs of glasses that would take up my entire face, figuring that it was better for my glasses to be “sturdy” than “fashionable.”  Well, on this particular trip, when it came time to pick out a pair of glasses I went into my school bag and pulled out a picture of my then favorite rock group, The Doors.  I laid it in front of the optometrists’ assistant and pointed at Ray Manzarek and stated “I want glasses exactly like his.”  My mother stammered as she saw Ray’s slight round granny glasses, but the optometrist’s assistance reasoned with my mother, stating that it was important for kids to emulate their heroes.  The optometrist got it right.  Ray Manzarek was one of my teenage heroes.  Even next to Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek was the Door I most wanted to be.  From his cool striped suits to his deep and serious baritone voice to his mysterious Japanese girlfriend Dorothy (who hit the scene far earlier than Yoko Ono) to those awesome round glasses to the way that he could put me into a trance with the sound of his organ, Ray Manzarek will always be The Doors to me.

One of rock n’ roll’s most controversial and intense bands, Ray Manzarek’s keyboards was a driving force in creating the band’s unique sound, and Ray was the driving force behind keeping Jim Morrison in the spotlight during his life and after his death.

When an older kid brought his Doors tapes into my tenth grade art class a love affair between myself and the group began that would take me through my dark and angsty teenage years, and open a literal doorway to listening to serious music.  Before I first heard them all I was listening to was The Monkees, Jan and Dean and Nancy Sinatra. They were good too, but The Doors lifted my awareness of music to a whole new level, and was the root of what would stretch my knowledge to a wider world of music.  When I first heard their music I had never seen a picture of The Doors, didn’t know anything about them and had no idea who or what Jim Morrison was all about.  All I had was the music, and for me, The Doors was all about that powerful organ.  It was unlike anything that I had ever heard in music before and I loved how it swirled and swayed, created the most intense listening experience I had ever had up until that point of my life.  Ray Manzarek’s keyboards were the driving force that turned me into a Doors fan – from his bluesy work on Soul Kitchen, the dark and mysterious wailing of The End, the crashing sound orgy of Not to Touch the Earth, the jazzy beginning of Touch Me, the unmistakable opening notes of Light My Fire, the honky tonk flavor of LA Woman and the unmistakable sound of When The Music’s Over, which for many music fans would be the defining trademark sound of The Doors.  Ray Manzarek was my favorite Door, and it was he, and not Jim Morrison, who guided me during the earliest days of my rock n’ roll journey. 

To Doors fans the four members of the group; Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robbie Krieger, have individual personalities as vibrant as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. Ray Manzarek was always “the serious one” and “the leader.”

While the passive music listener thinks of Jim Morrison and The Doors as being one and the same, to Doors fans the members of the band had their own unique individual personalities and roles to play in the same way that their contemporaries The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who did.  Out in front was Jim Morrison – the enigmatic poet and self destructive Lizard King.  On guitar was Robbie Krieger – the quite and gentle, and most likely stoned,  musical powerhouse, who incidentally wrote every Door song that reached number one on the Billboard charts.  On drums was John Densmore – mild mannered but tortured, who seemed to be afraid of the group’s seemingly uncontrollable lead singer.  And on the trademark organ was Ray Manzarek – cool, calculating, serious and, at all times, the leader of the group.  While Jim Morrison was getting all the glory out front, Ray Manzarek was the brains behind the entire operation.  He knew that Jim Morrison was the key to The Doors success and stepped out of the way and let him do his thing.  Ray Manzarek was very much “the man behind the curtain” to Jim Morrison’s “Great and powerful Oz.”

An early band shot of Rick and the Ravens featuring Ray Manzarek (on keyboards) and his older brothers Rick and Jim (on guitars). Rick and the Ravens would eventually morph into The Doors.

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Ray Manzarek studied piano after his dreams of being a basketball star seemed like an unrealistic pursuit.  Relocating to Los Angeles in 1962 to study film at UCLA, Ray’s older brothers Rick and Jim, who were already located in LA, had formed a garage band called Rick and the Ravens.  Joining the group, Ray made his mark as an accomplished jazz and blues pianist, and even gained the moniker “Screamin’ Ray” when he took over vocals for some numbers. Rick and the Raven’s saw various line-ups and formats, which saw Ray eventually moving from piano to organ, which was becoming a standard of the psychedelic sound that began to emerge out of the various LA groups.  Rick and the Ravens became the house band at a British Pub in Santa Monica called The Turkey Joint West playing for the UCLA crowd, but while noted as being an accomplished group, they just seemed to be missing that element to bring them fame.  But Ray recognized the missing element to be in his UCLA classmate Jim Morrison.

Classmated in a UCLA art class, legend tells of Ray Manzarek encountering Jim Morrison on Venice Beach where after a little small talk Ray invited Jim to join his band which was looking for a new direction.

Doors lore tells of the afternoon on Venice Beach where Ray Manzarek encountered Jim Morrison sitting on the beach watching the surf.  Ray knew Jim from an art class they had both took, but at that time they weren’t as much friends as they were acquaintances.  During a bit of small talk Ray mentioned to Jim he was in a band.  Jim mentioned to Ray that he had written some songs.  Curious, Ray got Jim to sing one of them, which would eventually become Moonlight Drive.  In Jim’s dark and poetic lyrics, not to mention his mysterious persona, Ray recognized that special element that Rick and the Ravens was missing.  Ray could visualize a potential rock icon in the stoned drifter on the beach.  Ray invited Jim to hang out and sing a few numbers with the band during their next rehearsal, and Jim agreed to come.

Although each member of The Doors brought something special to the table, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison were the “ying and yang” of the group. Jim was the face and the voice while Ray was the brains, the heart and the soul of The Doors.

When Jim Morrison started performing with Rick and the Ravens, the group was in the process of moving away from blues and going into the Jefferson Airplane route with a female singer.  John Densmore was already in the group, and Ray’s brothers were still holding court.  But Jim’s really upset the applecart.  The female singer quickly quit and Ray’s brothers couldn’t work with the self-destructive eccentricities of Jim Morrison.  But Ray knew he was on to something and put everything he had behind Jim.  Parting ways with his brothers musically, Ray brought Robbie Krieger to the mix and the blues based quartet went psychedelic and incorporated taboo subjects such as sex, death, drugs and mythology into their music. At Jim’s urging, the band changed it’s name to The Doors as inspired by the William Blake poem The Doors of Perception and within a year they became one of the most controversial groups to come out of Los Angeles in the 1960′s.

As The Doors anxiously awaited their fate after Jim Morrison’s on-stage arrest in New Haven, CT, Ray was pictured cool and collected reading a magazine backstage.

During the summer of love, The Doors embraced the dark side of the season.  As Jim Morrison thrilled the crowd as the defining face and voice of the group, Ray Manzarek remained the band’s bonafide leader and architect.  Ray was the man who made the decisions, called the shots, and kept the often wild and unpredictable Jim Morrison on his feet.  And Jim Morrison knew the score.  On many occasions he was perused by agents and record executives to strike out on his own, but Jim knew that Ray was the one who was holding all the cards and never went in that direction.  Meanwhile, Ray knew that Jim was the driving force behind the band’s success, and helped create the mythological Jim Morrison.  And when trouble went down, which it often did, Jim always looked to Ray Manzarek’s leadership to get The Doors through, and somehow Ray always knew just what to do.  No matter how wild Jim Morrison got, Ray always seemed to remained unphased.  When Jim Morrison was arrested on stage in New Haven, CT for mouthing off about the police, Ray was so cool and collected that he was photographed backstage calmly reading a magazine as the rest of The Doors anxiously awaited their fate.  With Jim Morrison’s star quality and Ray Manzarek’s calculating mind for public relations, publicity, music and mythos, the pair became the ying and yang that made The Doors one of the biggest bands of all time.

Ray Manzarek’s first solo album, The Golden Scarab (1973) has become a cult favorite amongst music aficionados.

When Jim Morrison tragically died in 1971 at age twenty six, it was obvious that Ray struggled with what the next stage of his musical career would be.  Two unsuccessful and ill received albums featuring The Doors without Jim Morrison proved to be a disaster.  In the early seventies Ray and Robbie even tried to resurrect a “new” Doors with a yet to be discovered Iggy Pop as the “new” Jim Morrison which lasted only a handful of performances.  Finally putting The Doors to rest, Ray released his first solo project, Golden Scarab, in 1973.  Although receiving critical acclaim from critics and fans alike, Golden Scarab didn’t jive with top forty radio listeners and, as a result, didn’t see a hit.  However, the album became a cult hit for serious music listeners looking for something a bit different and lead to another two solo albums, The Whole Thing Started With Rock n’ Roll, Now It’s Out of Control in 1974, and one of his most ambitious project, a rock version of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana which was released in 1983.  Ray also formed a second band, Nite Heat, in 1977 with former Blondie bassist Nigel Harrison and lead singer Noah James.  However, Nite Heat was incredibly short lived, recording two albums but scoring no hits and was done by 1978.

“An American Prayer” (1978) and a 1981 “Rolling Stone” cover story was both spearheaded by Ray Manzarek to evolve Jim Morrison to mythological status, and keep the music of The Doors on the forefront of pop culture.

But 1978 proved to be the year that Ray Manzarek realized that Jim Morrison might be dead, but his legend could live on when he came across reels of recordings of his late band-mate reciting poetry which had somehow came into his possession after the death of Jim’s common law wife Pam Courson in 1975.  Although The Doors were still remembered by fans, they had not yet hit iconic status.  Reuniting with Robbie and John, the three remaining members of The Doors went into the studio to put music behind the poetry tapes recording one last Doors LP that became known as An American Prayer.  Boldly different from anything on the market, the album became another cult hit, which reawoke interest in The Doors and exalted Jim Morrison to legendary status.  When Francis Ford Coppola effectively used The End in the opening of Apocolypse Now, Ray continued to push the myth of Jim Morrison which accumulated to a 1981 Rolling Stone cover story which read “He’s Hot, He’s Sexy, He’s Dead.”   Through the 80’s and 90’s Ray continued to pull lost recordings and live bootlegs out of his back pocket, and would appear on talk shows and specials talking about Jim Morrison leading to an array of new albums, books and even a big budget bio-pic directed by Oliver Stone.  Ray Manzarek kept Jim Morrison’s memory alive in a one man vigil that excited disenchanted youth that were looking for a hero.  The reason that Jim Morrison has reached the iconic stature that he has in both music and pop culture was due to the nonstop efforts of Ray Manzarek to ensure that he was never forgotten.  Of course there was a business sense to the process.  Ray knew that if Jim became a rock god then the music that he helped create, and the band that he had formed, would stay eternal as well.  Jim Morrison and The Doors were merged into a hybrided franchise, but Jim’s untimely death just helped perpetuate the legendary status of the group while Ray was able to enjoy being part of the lore.

By living in Jim Morrison’s shadow, Ray Manzarek rarely got the credit he deserved as being the mastermind behind The Doors.  However, Ray Manzarek was smart enough to know that in order for the band to succeed, staying in Jim’s shadow was exactly where he needed to be.  But to Doors fans, we all looked up to Ray as a leader.  He was strong, talented and smart.  While Jim Morrison was the voice and the face, Ray Manzarek was the heart, the brains, and the soul of The Doors.  On May 20th fans of The Doors around the world lost their leader, but we’ll never forget the intricate position that he played in rock n’ roll history as the man behind the Lizard King.

The Pop Culture Addict Podcast is here – featuring Sam Tweedle, Jeffrey Danger and the Bay City Rollers’ Les McKeown! Oh yeah!

The Pop Culture Addict podcast is finally here!  Check it out!  Sam Tweedle and Jeffrey Danger talk about Bay City Rollers, Cheers, The Lying Game, Game of Thrones, Galaga, Sixto Rodriguez, Cloak & Dagger, Men Without Hats, The Silicone Teens and more.  Hang in until the end for a special performance of Yesterday’s Heroes!  Hope you dig what we did.  Big shout out to the editing talents of Jeffrey Danger for making this whole thing come together!

Bill Mumy is the living personification of fan culture: for over six decades Mumy has been living the wildest fantasies of fan boys everywhere in virtually every aspect of the entertainment industry.  From writing and producing, to doing voice acting, to working in the comic book and music industry, Mumy has literally done it all.  However, the world will always remember Bill Mumy as one of the 1960s foremost child character actors.  One of the most important and talented child actors during the golden age of television, Billy Mumy possessed something that most child actors didn’t have: he was a great dramatic actor who, despite his young age, often upstaged adult actors.  This made him a favorite of producers and casting agents and, as a result, it is impossible to watch classic television and not see Billy Mumy turn up on the screen.  The result is that Bill Mumy has worked with some of the biggest icons of the entertainment industry, and has appeared in a wide range of television programs including Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, Have Gun – Will Travel, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Fugitive, The Munsters, The Virginian, Bewitched, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Here Comes the Brides, The Rockford Files, Matlock, Crossing Jordan and Babylon 5.

One of the most talented child actors of all time, Bill Mumy has worked in all areas of pop culture including television, film, music and comic books. However, he is still best remembered as boy space adventurer Will Robinson on “Lost in Space.”

Of course, Bill Mumy’s biggest contribution to pop culture may be his role as boy space adventurer Will Robinson on Irwin Allen’s classic 60s sci-fi series Lost in Space.  As the youngest crew member of the sabotaged rocket space Jupiter 2, Will Robinson became the center character of the program as audiences looked through his eyes while he and his family explored strange planets in an attempt to return to Earth for three seasons.  Alongside a talented cast of actors, including Guy Williams and Jonathan Harris, Lost in Space sealed Bill Mumy’s place in pop culture history.

Bill Mumy is still active in the entertainment industry, although today he is primarily focused on his music and has released a number of solo albums over the past two decades, as well as writing his own comic series, Curse of the Mumy, for Bluewater Productions.  Writing songs since he was a kid, Mumy has been involved in the music scene since the early 70s and has worked with performers such as America, Shaun Cassidy and Rick Springfield.  But possibly Mumy’s most infamous persona in the music industry is as one part of Barnes and Barnes, with childhood friend Robert Haimer.   Forming the group in 1970, Barnes and Barnes have produced nine albums of novelty songs, with their biggest hit being the notorious cult hit Fish Heads.  Made into a short film in 1979, Fish Heads was introduced to the public when it was featured on Saturday Night Live in 1980.

A natural storyteller, I was delighted to have a talk with Bill Mumy about just a handful of his career highlights from the past, where he revealed what it was like looking at the flip side of pop culture through the eyes of a child who was on the front lines as entertainment history happened.  Bill Mumy walked amongst the industry giants as a kid, but thankfully for us, he was very much aware of it as the time, allowing him to still have a sense of awe in his stories.

READ FULL INTERVIEW

Hey there friends!

Well we’ve been working on this for a long time, but this weekend we are finally going to debut the first of our monthly PCA podcasts!  Each month myself, my co-host Jeffrey Danger and other guests will sit down and talk about the things you love – music, movies, comics, television and celebrities!  The idea is to recreate what its like to come to my house and talk about pop culture.  It’s good friends, good conversation and good times.  Produced by Jeffrey Danger, I heard the first episode a few days ago and it came out better then I ever expected.  Danger is a genius at the editing board.  Want to experience his genius at work?  Here’s a sneak peek of what to expect – the theme song that Danger wrote especially for the podcast called “Going to Sam’s.”  Check it out!

Yeah.  I have a theme song now.  Neat!

Stay tuned for more info on this in the next day or so!  This is the next phase of the PCA brand!

REMEMBERS

CHRISSY AMPHLETT

1959 – 2013

Although thought of as a “one hit wonder” in North America, The Divinyls lead singer Chrissy Amphlett was a rock icon and trendsetter in Australia for three decades.

I didn’t want anybody else.  When I thought about Chrissy Amphlett I touched myself.

One of Australia’s most influential women of rock, singer Chrissy Amphlett, the sexy and agnsty front woman for The Divinyls, was one of pop culture’s often neglected pioneers.  Nearly every female rebel of the past thirty years imitated Chrissy Amphlett whether they realized it or not.  In her short skirts, fishnet stockings, school girl outfits and heavy mascara, Chrissy Amphlett sang moody rock songs in her tough,  yet girlish, voice paving the way for performers such as Madonna, T.a.t.U., Mazzy Starr, The Cranberries, Hole, Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne and The Black Belles.  Yet, while she had a celebrated career in the European and Australian markets that for three decades, in North America Chrissy was considered a “one hit wonder” when she hit the top of the Billboard charts in 1991 with I Touch Myself.  Last week Amphlett, who was already suffering of multiple sclerosis, lost a painful battle with breast cancer at the young age of 53.  Amphlett’s story has ended far too soon. 

Dressed in school jumpers and stockings, Chrissy Amphlett created a dark fetish inspired stage persona unlike anything seen in Australia before, making her an inspiration to misunderstood misfit girls.

Chrissy Amphlett began performing at age fourteen, and began her rock n’ roll rebel lifestyle at age seventeen when she left home of Greelong, Australia for Europe to try to find success in the music industry.  Cousin of Australia’s 60’s pop star Little Pattie, Chrissy spent some time in England and France, but her European tour ended in Spain when she was arrested for performing in the streets and spent three months being incarcerated for vagrancy.  Eventually sent back to Australia, Amphlett met musician Jeremy Paul and the two formed a rock band called Bantonrouge.  Via Paul, Amphlett was introduced to musician Marc McEntree, and when Paul went on to join Australian soft rock sensation Air Supply, Amphlett and McEntree joined forces and went in an entirely different direction and the pair formed The Divinyls in 1980.  Dressed in a private school jumper, torn fishnet stalking and with globs of mascara dripping off of her eyes, Amphlett was the first woman of grunge rock before “grunge” even existed.  Harnessing her inner rage from a difficult childhood, with her small but powerful voice and brooding presence, Amphlett became a personification of pleasure and pain as she taunted and often abused her band members on stage, and even members of her audience.  Now rebel  girl rockers had existed in America for some time.  The Shangris-Las, Patti Boyd, Chrissie Hynde, Blondie and The Runaways had already covered that market for American audiences.  But to Australian audiences Chrissy Amphlett was unlike anything seen before.  In a country which rewards its clean cut performers, Chrissy Amphlett was something very different and unconventional on the Australian music scene. 

The Divinyls, fronted by Chrissy Amplett and Marc McEntree would put ten hits onto the Australian top twenty between 1982 and 1997/

Playing clubs around Sydney, the Divinyls were discovered by filmmaker Ken Cameron who hired them to write the soundtrack to his 1982 film Monkey Grip and cast them in small supporting roles.  Monkey Grip found box office success in Australia and gained positive reviews at the Cannes Film Festival, but was unable to secure distribution in North American.  However, two songs from the soundtrack, Only Lonely and Boys in Town, soared to the top of the Australian music charts making The Divinyls overnight stars.  As the band’s front woman, Chrissy Amphlett became both a sex symbol and a female role model for misfit girls that were unable to relate to pop goddess Olivia Netwon John.  More goth than punk, Chrissy Amphlett was a fashion trendsetter, and her style began to be imitated by fans and admirers, eventually crossing over to Europe and North America, although The Divinyls’ music still suffered in obscurity overseas.  Yet throughout the 1980’s The Divinyls would remain one of Australia’s most successful groups, scoring top ten hits with Science Fiction (which was chosen by the APRA as one of Australia’s top thirty most important Australian songs), Good Die Young, Pleasure and Pain, I’ll Make You Happy (a cover of The Easybeats’ 1955 hit) and Hey Little Boy (a rewrite of The Syndicate of Soul’s Hey Little Girl). 

Chrissy Amphlett would raise eyebrows internationally with her playful ode to masturbation and sexual fantasies, “I Touch Myself” in 1997, which became The Divinyls’ most successful single, and one of the most important songs of the 90′s.

In 1988 The Divinyls hit American shores for the first time, and although they were unable to copy their success in Australia immediatly, the group managed to create a solid cult following which helped open the door for their 1991 album simply called The DeVINYLS and its first single, I Touch Myself.  A playful ode to masturbation and sexual fantasies, I Touch Myself was immediately embraced by a worldwide audience, and soared to the number one position in Australia, and became their only US hit when it found its way to number four on the Billboard charts.  Ironically Amphlett, now in her thirties, decided that she was too old for the school girl routine and retired her famous stage persona, leaving most North Americans unaware of her fetish based stage act.  However, the video for I Touch Myself, shot in a convent, paired with the blatant sexual lyrics and Amphlett’s suggestive “oohs”, raised eyebrows at MTV and was banned by some radio stations.  But controversy only made the song more popular and the track stayed on the charts for twelve weeks, becoming one of the most popular hits of the decade.  But The Divinyls wouldn’t repeat this success in North America, and I Touch Myself would be regarded as a “one hit wonder” at best, and a novelty tune at worst.  In Australia the group had another two hits with a cover of The Rascals’ I Aint Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore and I’m Jealous.  Then, in 1997, Amphlett and McEntree had a falling out and parted ways.  The Divinyls were disbanded, and Amphlett and McEntree would not talk again until 2006 when the group were inducted in the ARIA hall of fame.  The pair performed at the ceremony, and did a series of gigs in 2007.  But in 2009 Amphlett publicly announced that The Divinyls were finished once and for all.  Over nine albums The Divinyls managed to put ten songs into the top forty in Australia and found international success. But most importantly, it introduced Chrissy Amphlett as an idol and icon to an entire generation of discontented youth who the Australian entertainment industry had a tendency to ignore.

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007 and breast cancer in 2010, Amphlett and husband Charley Dreyton formed The Tulips and recorded one final song, “Summer Song” in 2011.

When Amphlett and McEntee called it quits in 1997, Amphlett found a new partner in then DiVinyls’ drummer Charley Drayton who she married in 1999 and relocated from Australia to his home base in New York City.  Although she worked on various solo projects, Amphlett’s most successful post-Divinyls project was playing Judy Garland in the Australian stage production of The Boy From Oz about the life of songwriter Peter Allen.  But in America Amphlett was unable to recreate her earlier success in Australia.  But Amphlett’s story would take a sudden turn in 2007 when she publicly announced that she was suffering of multiple sclerosis, and matters got even more dire when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010.  Due to multiple sclerosis, Amphlett was unable to undergo any radiation treatment or chemotherapy which could have saved her life.  The reality was a slow and painful journey to an early demise.  But Chrissy Amphlett had one more song to sing.  In 2011 Amphlett, Drayton and friend Kraig Jarret Johnston recorded a new original song called Summer Song which was released under the band name The Tulips.  Although Amphlett’s trademark voice was still prevalent, Summer Song had a more nostalgic and optimistic feel to it compared to her previous work with The Divinyls.  The song was released on the soundtrack for the 2011 independent film The Music Never Stopped.  Although it was highly overlooked by the mass public, Summer Song was a beautiful finale to Chrissy Amphlett’s musical journey.  She would hold on for another year and a half, but after Summer Song Amphlett remained out of the public spotlight.

When Chrissy Amphlett died last week, Drayton wrote a statement which read “”Chrissy’s light burns so very brightly.  Hers was a life of passion and creativity; she always lived it to the fullest. With her force of character and vocal strength she paved the way for strong, sexy, outspoken women.”  Drayton’s words are no truer.  Chrissy Amphlett never got the recognition that she deserved in North America as a rock pioneer, but a little bit of Chrissy is present in every moody songstress that looms on a stage and growls into a microphone.  But Australian’s realize what they lost, and it is no surprise that within a week of Amphlett’s passing The Divinyls are back on the sales charts with their Greatest Hits album reaching the top twenty.  Never has there ever been a better time to rediscover the legacy of Chrissy Amphlett.  More than a one hit wonder, Amphlett is sure to inspire generation of young girls to be rock rebels for decades to come.

Dondi (1961) – “Goshers GI Buddies, I can be American now?”

Oh yes.  It’s Dondi!  That wide eyed orphaned scamp from war torn Italy!  A popular staple in newspapers comic pages from 1955 to 1986, Dondi was brought to the big screen in 1961 by director Albert Zugsmith who directrf such crowd pleasers as Sex Kittens Go to College and The Private Lives of Adam and Eve.  Oh yeah.  This is going to be a wild ride.  Lets go….

“Goshers Mr. Janssen buddies…you go an beez Fugitive now?” From the newspapers comic pages to the big screen comes the award winning comic strip “Dondi” starring David Janssen and David Kory. Unfortunately the film would not match the success that the comic strip had on post war audiences.

On Christmas Eve a group of American soldiers waiting to get notification to return home, including leading man David Janssen and character actors Arnold Stang and Robert Strauss, receive a strange visitor when a small nameless street urchin, played by first time (and last time) child actor David Kory,  lets himself into their quarters to look at the Christmas tree.  After some “hijinks” the soldiers befriend the boy and name him Dondi, but moments later the soldiers are sent home leaving Dondi standing alone as the truck pulls away.  But days later the troops realize that they aren’t yet finished with Dondi when they find that he has stowed away on their boat headed for New York!.  Once in America, the soldiers quickly lose Dondi, who wanders around New York City while a campaign to find him, and allow him to stay in America,  is lead in the media spearheaded by Janssen’s singing girlfriend played by Patti Page.  Will they find Dondi?  Will Dondi be shipped back to Italy?  Will Dondi ever learn to speak proper English?  Goshers buddies, I hopes this movie is overs soon!

Virtually forgotten by the mass public today, “Dondi” ran in newspapers from 1955 to 1986. The first three years were collected in a volume by Classic Comics Press in 2007 which makes a great impulse buy. The DVD, put out in 2012, on the other hand is a questionable impulse buy.

Dondi has gone into the history books as being called one of Hollywood’s truly terrible films and no matter how much optimism you go into watching it, finding the silver linings in this film is difficult.  Wthe original comic strip has been widely forgotten by the mass public today, thus questioning the impact that it had on the history of comics, during the mid 1950’s the strip was immensely popular.  Created by Gus Edson and Irwin Hasen, Dondi was a sort of male version of Orphan Annie, and the strip won a handful of major publishing awards.   In its early weeks Dondi was actually a well crafted strip, with a mixture of sentimentality, pathos and patriotism which appealed to post war America.  The first three years of the strip were collected in 2007 by Classic Comics Press and makes a fantastic impulse buy for fans of classic comics.  Despite discarding with all of the strip’s supporting character, the film manages to follow the story fairly closely, with many of the scenes from the film were lifted directly from the pages of the comic.  In fact, Edson and Hanson make clever cameos in the film as a police sergeant and sketch artist, with Hasen drawing the comic strip image of Dondi on camera as he does police sketch.  Even Dondi’s broken speech, which has been criticized by many critics, was taken from the original comic strip, and the dialect that David Kory speaks is pretty much how Dondi spoke in the early years of the comic.  So the plus side of Dondi is the fact that fans of the comic strip will recognize the story and the character.  However, considering that there aren’t probably many fans of the comic strip left in the world, that plus point might be moot…and then there is the rest of the film to contend with.

Despite a nation wide publicity campaign to cast the title role, first time actor David Kory became “Dondi.” Although there is a strong resemblance to Kory and the cartoon war urchin, his performance was universally panned as possibly being the worst performance by a child actor. He never made another film. David Kory’s current whereabouts are unknown.

Possibly the most obvious flaw with Dondi comes from the fact that they cast a child who couldn’t act and put him in nearly every single scene.   When the studio pitched Dondi a nation wide contest to cast the title role was placed in newspapers, encouraging hopeful parents to send photos of their youngsters hoping that they resembled a war torn orphan.  However, this proved to be merely a publicity stunt and the casting department had two kids to choose from – Damon Lanza, who was the son of Mario Lanza, and David Kory, who was the son of a Rockette named Diane Kory.  Now Lanza’s kid must have either been a really terrible actor, or Kory must have looked more like the comic character, because somehow Kory got the part.  Now there is no denying that David Kory is the splitting image of the cartoon character, but unfortunately that is not enough to get him through the film.  Speaking in the broken dialect of the comic character, Kory’s speech is so garbled that often the audience can’t make out any words he’s saying at all.  I mean, it sounds like words, but it comes out like gibberish.  Kory goes from scene to scene with an expression on his face that either looks like wide eyed innocence, or that he’s a deer in headlights, as he takes off screen direction….but poorly. Even to child actor standards, Kory’s performance is pitiful, and it is a blessing, to him and us, that he never appeared in anything everb again.

Despite talents such as David Janssen and Patti Page in the cast, the only watchable performances are given by character actors Arnold Stang and Robert Strauss . Unfortunately the two are basically thrown to the sidelines during the second act of the film.

But Kory isn’t the only one who gives a lackluster performance in the film.  David Janssen, who proved his dramatic chops on The Fugitive, seems to be in constant pain as playboy soldier Dealey.  Its anybody’s guess how he got roped into the film.  Did he lose a bet?  Played a bad hand of poker?  Seemed like a good idea at the time?  Who knows, but everyone watching can tell via his awkward performance that Janssen is not having the time of his life.  Perhaps with a better script or director or kid to work opposite of  Jansen would have pulled this film off, but he really has little to work with.  Meanwhile Patti Page’s talents go wasted, and she was basically hired to sing a number called, you guessed it, Dondi, which is actually a pretty cruddy song and possibly one of the worst of her career.  The only half decent performances are given by Stang and Strauss who play tough GI Sammy Boy and meek corporal Pee Wee.  Fantastic character actors, they descend into the stock characters that they often played in every film, and as a result are actually fun to watch.  Unfortunately both actors are basically discarded in the second half of the film when they have nothing to do once the action is moved to America.

“Dondi” is a curiosity piece as a franchise that no longer has an audience. Only enthusiasts of the comic strip might “sort of” enjoy it…if there are any enthusiasts out there left.

In all honestly, Dondi should have had everything going.  The comic was a decent property with a compelling story, the cast was made up of talented and likeable actors and Kory, for better or for worse, has a likeable presence on the screen.  So  why did it all go wrong?  The answer lies in the sloppy second half of the script and terrible direction.  Albert Zugsmith is an uneven director at best.  Although directing great films such as A Touch of Evil and The Incredible Shrinking Man, most of Zugsmith films are so thrown together that it looks like he was asleep in his chair as the camera’s rolled.  The actors lack in direction or motivation, and the result is a lacklustre and dull final presentation.  But while the first half of the film manages to keep the interest of even the most cynical viewer, the second half of the film falls apart.  Instead of referring back to the original source material as they did in the first half of the film, the writers don’t seem to know quite what to do with the entire cast once they get to New York.  As Dondi wanders through New York, a terrible series of unfunny vignettes where people are encouraged to “write their congressman” insults the intelligence of the viewer.  It also seems that a major chunk of film was cut out near the end, and the search for Dondi ends with no dramatic resolution, ending to a completely anti-climatic ending leaving viewers feeling hollow and that their time has been wasted.  Oh Dondi…..

So why watch Dondi?  At best Dondi is a curiosity piece about how time can often erode a franchise.  It is a film without an audience.  The comic strip has been off the public radar for so long that modern audiences don’t remember it.  In today’s world of technical savvy kids, Dondi will bore the original intended audiences, and not even the smallest tyke or most innocent youngster will be charmed by it.  Adults will find it trite and insipid.  For fans of terrible cinema, it’s not even bad enough to be good.  It’s just dull and poorly executed.  This film is only recommended to Dondi fans, but considering that there probably not very many Dondi fans out there either, than just don’t bother.  It’s any wonder the film was even ever released on DVD.

Goshers….

Dynamite Entertainment retells the classic 1795 storyline in the six part miniseries “Dark Shadows: Year One” by Marc Andreyko and Guiu Vilanova.

Although its fan following may not be as massive as some of today’s horror and fantasy franchises, during the late 1960’s and 1970’s, Dark Shadows was the premier horror series on television.  Yet, while it may now be a niche franchise, the series continues to have devoted fans who still love the dark drama surrounding the cursed Collins family.  Although Dark Shadows has had a sort of renaissance of popularity due to Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s 2012 film, long-time fans of the series have been very vocal of their disappointment with the results of the big screen treatment.  However, Dynamite Entertainment has been making up for the film’s mistakes by giving the fans exactly what they want – Dark Shadows the way they remember it. 

Best known as the creator of fan favorite DC Comics character Manhunter, writer Marc Andreyko has been one of the driving forces behind Dynamite Entertainment’s Dark Shadows books.  Starting with last year’s off beat Dark Shadows/Vamperella cross-over, which teamed vampire Barnabas Collins and werewolf Quinton Collins with Vamperella and Panthra, Andreyko is returning to Collinwood for a six part retelling of the famous 1795 storyline in Dark Shadows: Year One.  Outlining the beginnings of the Collins family curse and Barnabas’ earliest days as a vampire, Dark Shadows: Year One is a story of passion, betrayal, sadness, horror and dark magic.  But as a story that has been told multiple times throughout Dark Shadows fandom, what more can still be said about the events of 1795.  Marc Andreyko feels that there is a lot more to be told, and wants to put a new spin on a classic tale for old time fans, and give new fans a six issue history lesson about the roots of Dark Shadows.

Best known as the creator of DC Comic’s fan favorite character Manhunter, Marc Andreyko is a long time “Dark Shadows” fan: “I used to watch it when I came home from kindergarten.”

Sam Tweedle:  I was really pleased to see that there was a second Dark Shadows book coming out from Dynamite Entertainment.

Marc Andreyko:  Yeah.  I’m really excited to do it.  It’s fun.

Sam:  Are you a long time Dark Shadows fan?

Marc:  Oh yeah.  I used to watch it when I came home from kindergarten.  I watched the reruns on TV back in the 70’s.

Sam:  Dark Shadows has become a “boutique” franchise.  What attracted you to this project?

Marc:  Well, like I said, I was always a big fan of it as a kid.  There was all sorts of nostalgia for it, so it was something that I approached Dynamite about saying “How about doing a Year One,” not realizing that doing a Year One would involve condensing over a hundred episodes into a six issue comic book series.

Sam:  Let’s start by talking about last year’s Dark Shadows/Vamperella series you wrote.  I absolutely loved it.  I thought it was one of the truly fun books to come out in 2012.

Marc:  Oh?  There was one web-site that just called for my head. 

Sam:  Really?  It was one of my favorite books last year.

Adreyko’s off beat 2012 “Dark Shadows/Vamperella” miniseries was his first work on “Dark Shadows” and raised the eyebrows of some fans: “There was one web-site that just called for my head.”

Marc:  I approached the Dan Curtis people and Dynamite about Dark Shadows and Vamperella by saying “These characters are so diametrically different that they’ve got to talk to each other. “ There’s got to be the humor in it.  Not to make it jokey, but Barnabas would be horrified by the costume Vamperella wears, and she would be horrified by how uptight and Downton Abbey he is.  My only regret is that I didn’t get to tell that story set in the 70’s.  I defiantly wanted to have them go to Studio 54 and Pluto’s Retreat and do all that weird sexual stuff that was going on.  But I had a really good time writing it.  I thought that it was an out of continuity type of story, but I thought I’d embrace the ridiculousness of it and address it, but not in a snarky way, but a way that makes sense.  Having Panthra and Quinton be totally hot for each other was a happy accident.

Sam:  I found it interesting that often Quinton was wearing less clothes then Vamperella.

Marc:  Yeah.  I’d love to do a Quinton and Panthra miniseries with them going on a date or something. 

Marc Adreyko’s “Dark Shadows/Vamperella” series will be released in TPB form on June 4th: “Barnabas would be horrified by the costume Vamperella wears, and she would be horrified by how uptight and Downton Abbey he is.”

Sam:  So what was some of the negative feedback you heard about the series?

Marc:  Well, that one Dark Shadows web-site said that it was obscene and filthy and didn’t make any sense and it was some of the worst Dark Shadows ever.  Well actually, I am a big fan of the series and I didn’t do anything to mock it or make fun of it.

Sam:  Now I am going to be honest with you.  I originally thought the idea of having the villains be Elizabeth Bathory and Jack the Ripper was a bit over the top, but you completely made that team up work as well.

Marc:  Well when you do a series like that, you want the villains to not be villains that are necessarily devoted to one or the other [protagonists].  It’s not like having Batman and Spider-Man team up and having them fight The Joker and The Green Goblin.  Vamperella has very few marquee villains, and Dark Shadows was more about the character bits then Barnabas fighting a bad guy.  I also wanted to do a story that if you knew a little bit about Dark Shadows and a little bit about Vamperella then you knew what was going on.  I had fun with it, but the internet is great because people will tell you how bad you are, but it also tells you how good you are.  It all balances out.

Sam:  Now in Dark Shadows: Year One are you showing something that the television series never showed before, or are you just rehashing the classic 1795 storyline?

” it’s not a reboot, but it’s sort of streamlining and fixing and making (the story) make more sense dramatically. “

Marc:  Well, it’s not a reboot, but it’s sort of streamlining and fixing and making [the story] make more sense dramatically.  When you have a half hour a day, five days a week, you have a lot of time to fill, and then you have [the writers] retroactively adding to the origin as the story progresses.  There’s so many characters that are involved, and I am trying to give all of the characters their due, but there are going to be changes and cuts and things that are going to be altered for the sake of making more sense and making it a more interesting story.  If you treat every single word as gospel it’s just inert to try to do this.  The Dan Curtis people have been really great about that.  They’ve encouraged me to not tell a story exactly the way as it exists.  Play with it.  There’s been a lot of creative freedom to alter things and to make dramatic action a little clearer.  Some of the characters won’t be appearing at all because it doesn’t really add to this story.  When you only have a hundred and twenty pages to tell a story over six issues it’s hard to delve into the minutia of every single character.

Sam:  To fans the continuity of Dark Shadows is fairly fleshed out.  The TV series obviously did long storylines, and Lara Parker wrote some great books fleshing out the background of the stories.  What are you specifically doing to enhance this continuity?

Barnabas Collins meets Angelique for the first time in “Dark Shadows: Year One”: ” It’s not me saying “I want to do my version.” It’s me doing all the research, and reading all the synopsis and watching the show, and wanting to make the book make sense dramatically.”

Marc:  Well, like I said, it’s a matter of putting a story out there that is true to the original show, but makes it feel a little bit more accessible for the people who haven’t seen all of Dark Shadows and where all of Barnabas’ motivations come from. 

Sam:  You mentioned that you are making changes.  Can you give an example of the type of changes that you make?

Marc:  Well, one of the changes I made was during the duel between Barnabas and Jeremiah.  In the actual show Barnabas was enchanted by Angelique to kill Jeremiah.  Well, it just felt more dramatically interesting if Angelique actually enchants Jeremiah to fall in love with her, and he challenges Barnabas.  Barnabas is our lead character, and if he gets enchanted it makes him passive.  Having Barnabas be of clear mind and having to go through with this duel and to have to kill his best friend and Uncle makes it feel more tragic and more dramatically interesting.  It just makes more sense.

Sam:  Are you not scared of the diehard Dark Shadows fans that are going to be offended with the tweaks that you’ve made to the original story?

Barnabas Collins meets with doomed family members Jeremiah and Sarah Collins in “Dark Shadows: Year One.” This marks the first time either characters have been featured in a “Dark Shadows” comic to date:

Marc:  Well I had the blessing of the Dan Curtis people, so these changes are arbitrary changes.  It’s not me saying “I want to do my version.”  It’s me doing all the research, and reading all the synopsis and watching the show, and wanting to make the book make sense dramatically because, once again, you don’t have three hours a week to play with all this stuff.  I just think, as a fan of Dark Shadows, more sense.  It makes Barnabas’ rage towards Angelique more active.

Sam:  Who are some of the characters that we are going to see in this series?

Marc:  You’re going to see a lot.  In the first issue alone you’ve got Barnabas, Jeremiah, Angelique, Josette, The Countess, Sara, Naomi and Joshua.  We’re going to see Reverend Trask and Natalie and Millicent and Daniel and Ben Stokes and Nathan Forbes, and Victoria Winters too.

Sam:  So Victoria Winters is in it!

In the television series, governess Victoria Winters was displaced in time to 1795 and played a big part of the original storyline. Vicky will appear in “Dark Shadows: Year One” but in a much smaller role with no mention of time displacement.: ” To have the 70’s appear in this book feels like putting onions on a peanut butter sandwich…I’m not saying that she is not from the 70’s, but I’m not going into her story, because it isn’t her story. “

Marc:  Yes, but I’m not going to have any flash forwards of Victoria Winters being sent through time.  She’s just going to be this girl that has visions and that everybody thinks is a witch.  If you have to explain Victoria Winters, it wouldn’t make sense in the story that I’m trying to tell.  To have the 70’s appear in this book feels like putting onions on a peanut butter sandwich.  It raises so many problems and narrative questions that I just don’t have the time.  And having Victoria be this girl that has visions and is befuddled and confused just works well in this story.  I’m not saying that she is not from the 70’s, but I’m not going into her story, because it isn’t her story.  With some of these characters it’s like if you pull a piece of thread that suddenly your sweater turns into a ball of yarn. 

Sam:  Who are your favorite Dark Shadows characters to write for?

Marc:  Well Angelique is fun because she is just such a bitch.  She is just such a horrible monster.  She’s great.  Joshua is a lot of fun to write for as well.  He brings a lot of heart to the story because of his love for his family.  So many horrible things happen to this family in such a short period of time and his love for his son, and to try to comprehend the real world and the world of vampirism and magic is really interesting.  I think Ben Stokes is a really wonderful character.  The best friend of the lead is often more interesting of the lead.  Barnabas has turned out to be an interesting character to write because writing him as a human and in this place where he is is interesting.  Barnabas doesn’t actually become a vampire until the end of the second issue, so there is a lot of the human Barnabas and what his internal conflicts are and what his personality is.  He is trying to please everyone, and is serving every master except himself.  The first born sons always carries his baggage, and that’s a really interesting thing to explore.

Sam:  Will you be doing more Dark Shadows projects in the future?

Actors Jonathan Frid and David Selby as the Collins’ Family “monsters” – vampire Barnabas and werewolf Quinton: “(Quinton) has a sense of humor and a sense of fun, and he is the perfect foil for Barnabas because Barnabas is so serious and so tormented and so angsty.”

Marc:  I’m not the person to ask about that.  That’s up to Dynamite.  I would love to revisit this world.  I’d love to do a sequel to Dark Shadows/Vamperella.  I think that’d be lots of fun.  I’d like to do a Quinton Collins miniseries.  I think Quinton is such a cool character because he is kind of goofy and kind of suave at the same time.  He’s kind of the perfect combination of the Daniel Craig James Bond, and the Roger Moore one.  He has a sense of humor and a sense of fun, and he is the perfect foil for Barnabas because Barnabas is so serious and so tormented and so angsty.  But he also lightens Barnabas up.  When Barnabas calls him “A good dog” it bring out a side of Barnabas that Barnabas doesn’t get to show very often.  But we’re in an economy where it all depends on sales. 

Sam:  And being a niche franchises makes it more difficult for mass sales.

Marc:  Well I think once the collections are out, I think the Dark Shadows fans will be able to find it a bit more easily.  Going into a comic book store and getting the one thing you want every month can often be difficult.  Once the collections come out you know you have the whole story.  Dark Shadows/Vamperella will be out in a collection soon, and I think the first Dark Shadows trade paperback is out now. 

Although Marc Andreyko plays fast and loose with the continuity of the television series, Dark Shadows: Year One is an excellent retelling of the 1795 story, providing new insights into the emotional motives of Barnabas, Joshua, Josette and Angelique.  It becomes a fun retrospective for fans, with welcomed dashes of humor that wasn’t present in the melodramatic tone of the original series, and plays as an origin story to new fans just cutting their teeth on Dark Shadows as a result of the current revivals of the franchise.  However, the biggest treat is the book’s art by Guiu Vilanova.  From Barnabas’ tortured scowl to Angelique’s penetrating stare, Vilanova captures the likenesses and expressions of the characters perfectly.  Dark Shadows: Year One is a perfect mixture of pathos and playfulness, and could possibly be one of the most important Dark shadow comics ever produced. 

REMEMBERS

ANNETTE FUNICELLO

1942 – 2013

“Who’s the little lady who’s as dainty as a dream? Who’s the one you can’t forget? I’ll give you just three guesses. Annette, Annette, Annette!” – “Annette” by Jimmie Dodd

Last week pop culture lost its favorite girlfriend. An entire generation of baby boomers grew up with the original Disney teen princess Annette Funicello. From her debut at the age of twelve as the most popular Mousketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club through to her role as Frankie Avalon’s main squeeze Dee Dee in American International Pictures popular Beach Party films, Annette Funicello was living the American dream in the 50′s and 60′s. But Annette’s fairytale life would turn into a dehumanizing nightmare where she lived as a shadow of her former self in a paralyzing uncommunicative shell due to her twenty year battle with multiple sclerosis.  Annette’s story is a tale where bad things happen to good people.  Last week Annette’s story came to and end when she passed away at age 70.  After a long battle, Annette’s suffering has finally ended.

Annette Funicello had the mass appeal, charm and sincerity that made her pop culture’s favorite girlfriend.

Over the years, due to my personal interest in both the Beach Party films and The Mickey Mouse Club, I have spoken too many of the people that worked with Annette Funicello and it is fair to say that everybody who knew Annette recognized her goodness. Annette Funicello was one of the universally loved individuals on the pop culture journey. Described as being a good and kind person, never has a cruel or sordid story been told about Annette. She has one of the most untarnished legacies in pop culture history. It was her inherit goodness which could accredit for her success. Even Annette herself would readily admit that she was never the most talented actress, greatest singer or sexiest girl, but everybody agreed that Annette just had that special quality that drew an entire nation to her. Annette had natural charisma and sincerity, which brought her a long long way.

Annette Funicello became the breakout star of “The Mickey Mouse Club” in 1955. However it wasn’t the Disney producers who picked her as the star – it was the American public.

Everybody knows Annette’s story. At age twelve Walt Disney saw her perform in a production of Swan Lake and scouted her for the new children’s program, The Mickey Mouse Club, which was in the development stages.. Now in the early weeks of The Mickey Mouse Club, the producers of the show cast a large group of kids and basically threw them together in a Darwinesque “survival of the fittest” situation. None of the original Mouseketters were sought out to necessarily be the star of the show. The kids were divided into three groups: the white team, the blue team and the red team, which allowed the production team to work with different groups of kids at different times, but would eventually be used as a way to separate the Mouseketeers based on their importance to the production. The red team was the group every Mouseketeer sought to be in because they were made up of the kids who would eventually be the stars of the show. They were the Mousketeers that could learn their lines and routines the fastest, and that ended up in the famous role call. Talented enough to get into the red team, in the beginning Annette was treated as just another one of the gang. In fact, the producers of the show seemed to be banking more time onto Darlene, Bobby, Cubby and Karen. It wasn’t the producers who shoved Annette out in front of the camera. It was the American public that chose her. When the fan letters started coming in, Annette was getting, above and beyond, the most mail. There was something about her that kids loved, and Walt Disney knew that he had found his breakout star. Knowing that he had a good thing going, Annette became the star of the show, got her own serials, her own theme song and appeared on the majority of the marketing material. She became the name and face of The Mickey Mouse Club, and one of Disney’s biggest commodities.  There was no way that Disney, or anyone, could have known that Annette would be so popular with the public, but once she did they ran with her.

Annette had a crossover appeal unlike any teen star of the 1950′s. A generation of boys developed their first crush on her, and girls looked up to her as an older sister.

So what was it about Annette that made her a phenomena? Personally, I believe that Annette had a natural crossover appeal unlike any teen star of her generation. Although The Mickey Mouse Club was supposed to be made up of no showbiz kids, for the most part the children cast on the show were extraordinarily talented, and had the gloss of Hollywood sticking to them. Annette, on the other hand, was different.  She was more like one of the little girls that might live in your neighborhood, or go to your school. Annette didn’t look Hollywood.  Being an Italian-Catholic on television was still extremely rare in the 1950′s, and something about Annette’s dark hair and deep eyes separated her form the peroxide blondes which seemed to cover Hollywood during the era. It’s possible that while the other Mousketeers entertained 1950′s youth, Annette was someone that the audience had an easier time relating too because they recognized her as being one of them. She was a comforting touchstone welcoming kids into the world of television.  Furthermore, Annette had an appeal to both boys and girls. An entire generation of baby boomers had their first crush on Annette Funicello, while little girls across America looked up to Annette as an older sister. Annette’s down to earth appeal made her an instant star. When The Mickey Mouse Club ended in 1957, Disney cut dozens of talented kids loose from his stable, and only Annette got her contract extended.  Although she only made a handful of films beyond The Mickey Mouse Club, Annette will always be synonymous with Disney.

Annette would continue to be a major star through the 1960′s when paired with Frankie Avalon in AiP’s “Beach Party” films. Annette was the kind of girl that you brought home to Mom, and in the midst of a sexual revolution, maintained her Disney morals.

But as history has shown time and time again, just because a child star can charm an audience doesn’t mean their appeal will continue as they grow up. Annette Funicello proved to be one of the exceptions to the rule, working as a triple threat in film, television and music well into her twenties. She would make her transition from teen to adult in AiP’s Beach Party films during the 1960’s which gave her a perfect platform to maintain her popularity for the most of the decade. With a high camp vibe that was embraced by audiences, you didn’t have to be able to sing or act particularly well in these films. All you needed was high energy, a sense of humor and plenty of charm, which Annette had plenty of. She and Frankie Avalon had an on screen chemistry that people loved, although much of their screen time together were spent breaking up, messing with each other’s heads, and getting back together. But, again, what made Annette so appealing in the films was her wholesome image in a backdrop of a sexual revolution. Although aimed at young teens, the Beach Party films were as hyper sexual as mainstream films got, with girls in bikinis, boys in briefs and everybody jiggling all over the screen. But in the middle was Annette’s loveable character Dee Dee who didn’t wear a bikini, wouldn’t go all the way, and wanted to marry Frankie and start a family.  Annette was still living up to America’s 1950′s morals, and while the other girls on the beach were sexualized and wild, Annette was a sweet virgin in a sandy Sodom and Gomorrah located on the California coast. She was still the kind of girl that girls could look up to, and that guys could bring home to mother. You didn’t introduce your Mom to Ann-Margaret or Nancy Sinatra.  You wanted to bring home Annette Funicello.

Still publicly active through the 1970′s, Annette helped define middle America while being a Mom and hocking Skippy peanut butter.

By the time that the 1970′s came around Annette had pretty much retired from show business. Now married and raising her own children, she still appeared on talk shows, and made the occasional television appearance and was always quick to jump on any project that Walt Disney Studios wanted her for. She was devoted to the House of Mouse to the very end. Her most prolific appearances during the era was as spokesperson for Skippy peanut butter, playing up the angle that she was now a mother herself. But with baby boomers embracing their roots, 1950′s culture became the first wave of nostalgia during the 70’s with American Graffitti, Happy Days and Grease becoming huge hits.  Interest in Annette’s career continued as a result of being a part of the era, and suddenly she was an icon in her own time. Annette embraced the attention with elegance and grace. She never seemed to be affected by her own stardom, and always seemed to be just like the rest of us. She helped defined pop culture’s image of Middle America.

A twenty year battle with multiple sclerosis ravaged Annette into a twisted, paralyzed, non communicative state. Instead of remembering her like that, perhaps we should always remember her as being young and beautiful. Death was an end to her suffering.

From child to adult, Annette Funicello seemed to be living the Hollywood fantasy life, but her story would take devastating turn. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1987, Annette revealed to the public that she was suffering from the fatal disease in 1992. Up until then multiple sclerosis was still just a disease that the public only knew the name of. Annette Funicello, unfortunately, put a face to it. Making her final public appearances when participating in A&E’s Biography on her in 1996, the change in Annette was already noticeable. Although her eyes and smile was as bright as they always were, Annette’s voice trembled and she was in a wheelchair. Soon afterwards Annette retreated from public view as the disease took over her, ravaging her body and identity. For years nobody saw or heard anything from Annette, although the stories that she was now living in a near vegetable state were whispered amongst fans and admirers. In October 2012 the terrible story of Annette’s reality was revealed to the public when her husband and primary caregiver, Glen Holt, allowed Canadian news program W5 to come into their home and film what life with Annette was now like. The footage was painful to watch. Twisted and paralyzed, you could recognize Annette, but saw her in a way that you would never want to remember her. Unresponsive and unable to communicate with the world, Annette’s existence wasn’t what anybody could call living. It was merely a slow and painful death, and a shocking end to a life and legacy of pop culture stardom. We will never know what Annette’s thoughts were in those final years, but anybody that saw Annette in that state can surely find comfort in the fact that her pain has finally ended.   Death was a blessing.

There was nobody quite like Annette. She was pop culture’s sweetheart and after decades of crippling torment, she now, once again, is able to sing and dance amongst the heavens. We’ll never forget you Annette.  Why?  Because we love you.

Gotcha! (1985) –Director Jeff Kanew’s cold war era thriller/comedy Gotcha! was an attempt to make actor Anthony Edwards, hot off the success of his co-starring role in Revenge of the Nerds,  both a bankable star and a teen idol.  Yet despite a good marketing campaign, an interesting premise and a likeable star, Gotcha! has become an obscurity where most people can remember the trailer, but can’t tell you if they saw the film or not.

Anthony Edwards plays likeable, but naive, college student Jonathan Moore who, between classes and striking out with girls, plays an elaborate game of paintball called “Gotcha” where students run around campus acting as secret agents and shooting down their opponents before their opponents shoot them.  On holidays from school, Jonathan and his roommate Al (Alex Rocco) go on a European vacation to France and Spain.  But, while in Paris, Alex gets involved with a mysterious older woman named Sasha (Linda Fiorentino), who persuades him to skip Spain and travel to East Berlin with her on a non-descript errand.  However, once in East Berlin, Jonathan gets in over his head when Sasha slips him a roll of film and then disappears, leaving Jonathan to deal with assassins and enemy agents who won’t let anything get in their way of getting that microfilm.  Can Jonathan’s paint ball skills help him get the microfilm to the CIA without being a stain on the Berlin wall?

Anthony Edwards had the talent, the looks, the moves and the hair to be a major 80′s teen idol. Unfortunately, more people remembered him in “Revenge of the Nerds” instead of “Gotcha!”

As a film Gotcha! has a fairly interesting premise, but suffers in the execution and contains some gapping plot holes (i.e. what exactly IS on that microfilm?)  Furthermore, Anthony Edwards, who is in pretty much every scene, is a lot of fun to watch.  How he didn’t become a major teen star is anybody’s guess.  Perhaps his Nerds role was hanging over his head, but his winning performance is pretty much the best thing about Gotcha!  Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for his leading lady Linda Fiorentino.  The two have about as much chemistry as a sawdust sandwich, and Fiorentino’s performance is unbelievable and boring.  While it is obvious that the older woman is clearly using the college student (or is she?) the couple don’t make their romance believable, and Fiorentino seems more predatory than sexy..

Gotcha! also suffers due to the fact that the plot has very little substance to it.  Beyond the skeleton of the film, nothing really ever happens.  Gotcha! has a pretty decent set up and an awesome ending…but that’s about it.  In fact, it seems to me that that was all the writer had – a set up and an ending, and the rest of the film was just ninety minutes of filler.  It’s no wonder that nobody remembers Gotcha!  I only watched it a few days ago and I can’t really remember the middle already.

A great set up and nice twist ending, “Gotcha!” suffers from a weak middle and one of the 80′s most boring screen pairings of Anthony Edwards and Linda Fiorentino.

If anything, it’s fun to watch Gotcha! for the authentic 80’s styles and the dreadful synth soundtrack by Bill Conti.  Forget John Hughes movies.  Gotcha! looks exactly what I remember the 80’s looking like.  I swear that I saw all the extras hanging out at the local roller rink on Saturday afternoon around 1983.  When my kids want to know what the 80’s look like I’m going to skip The Breakfast Club and show them Gotcha!  It may not be a great film, but its authentic 80’s. Gotcha! is a real sleeper, but it’s a likeable time waster.  Good for a cheesy Sunday afternoon on a rainy day.

Appearing on stage, television, and film actor Jerry Lacy has had a long and varied career in entertainment. From soap operas to Broadway and sketch comedy to dramatic roles, Jerry Lacy has earned the reputation as being a dependable character actor. However to fans of the cult series Dark Shadows, Jerry Lacy will always be synonymous with one name – Trask. Over the six year run of the series Jerry Lacy took on five different roles via different timelines: smug lawyer Tony Peterson, religious zealot Reverend Trask, villain Gregory Trask, futuristic butler Mr. Trask, and creepy undertaker Lamar Trask. Jerry Lacy’s long association with Dark Shadows made him one of the program’s most popular recurring villains. While Dark Shadows was famous for its ghosts, vampires, witches, and werewolves, Jerry Lacy’s roles proved that the real monsters were often mortal beings and true evil could be found in the hearts of men.

For another demographic of fans, Jerry Lacy is known as the man with Humphrey Bogart’s face who stepped into the role of the iconic Hollywood tough guy in the original Broadway production of Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam. Opening on Broadway in 1969, the play put Woody Allen and Diane Keaton on the map and became a massive hit. Woody Allen and Jerry Lacy created a playful connection betwee them, with Allen playing a neurotic film critic struggling to get back into the dating game and Lacy playing his tough-guy inner consciousness speaking to him in the guise of Humphrey Bogart and trying to lead him on his way. In 1972 the play was turned into a feature film with the principal players making the transition to the big screen. This was one of Woody Allen’s most popular films and Jerry Lacy’s portrayal of Bogart would introduce him to a wider audience.

Jerry Lacy brought evil and fanaticism to daytime television in the role of Reverend Trask, and his descendants, on “Dark Shadows.”

Between Dark Shadows and Play It Again, Sam Jerry Lacy’s screen appearances have included a bit of everything. He was a regular fixture in soap operas during the 1970s with stints on As the World Turns, Love of Life, and The Young and the Restless. He has made appearances on shows as diverse as McCloud, Eight is Enough, The White Shadow, Knots Landing, and Saved by the Bell, as well as guest spots on Newhart and Designing Women alongside wife Julia Duffy to whom he has been married since 1984.

As an obsessive Dark Shadows fan it is always exciting for me to visit with one of the players of the program and talking with one of the show’s favorite bad guys was a great pleasure. Jerry spoke to me about his career, past successes, and his current film and stage work.

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